The Way I Used To Be by Amber Smith

At the beginning of summer, my friend Becky told me about this website:  Book Outlet which is a great place to buy books- I love that you can search for just YA books.  I ordered about 8 YA books for just under $50 and the shipping was free.  The Way I Used To Be was one of those books. 

I really loved this book - although it was quite painful to read.  In the first chapter (well really, the first page) 13 year old Eden is raped by her brother's best friend in her own room.  What follows is how Eden learns to deal with this incident.  After telling nobody, she has to suffer on her own and figure out how to survive.  It was so difficult to read about all the choices Eden made in an effort to deal with the shame, embarrassment and horror of that night.  Like Speak, The Mockingbirds, and Some Girls Are- it is so raw reading about the effects of sexual assault, but so important to bring to light.  What makes this book stand out is how it is told.  Eden's story is not wrapped-up in a single year of high school.  Instead, we live with Eden as she navigates 4 years of high school while trying to deal with one harmful act. 

I am not sure I would put this in my elementary classroom- again, it is a mature book, dealing with mature themes.  I would be very careful about who I gave this book too- maybe closer to the end of the year in grade 8.  But it was a powerful read.